Mizan Mehari (28 January 1980 – 10 May 2007) was an Ethiopian born Australian

athlete An athlete is most commonly a person who competes in one or more sports involving physical strength, speed, power, or endurance. Sometimes, the word "athlete" is used to refer specifically to sport of athletics competitors, i.e. including track ...

who competed in

long-distance running Long-distance running, or endurance running, is a form of continuous running over distances of at least . Physiologically, it is largely aerobic in nature and requires stamina as well as mental strength. Within endurance running come two di ...

events. He represented Australia at the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, officially branded as Sydney 2000, and also known as the Games of the New Millennium, were an international multi-sport event held from 15 September to 1 October ...

in Sydney.

Junior career

Mehari was originally from

Addis Ababa Addis Ababa (; ,) is the capital city of Ethiopia, as well as the regional state of Oromia. With an estimated population of 2,739,551 inhabitants as of the 2007 census, it is the largest city in the country and the List of cities in Africa b ...

and represented Ethiopia in junior athletics. He placed fifth in the junior race at the

1996 IAAF World Cross Country Championships The 1996 IAAF World Cross Country Championships was held in Stellenbosch, South Africa, at the Danie Craven Stadium on March 23, 1996. A preview on the event was given in the Herald, and a report in ''The New York Times''. Complete results ...

Asylum

After competing in Sydney at the

1996 World Junior Championships in Athletics The 1996 World Junior Championships in Athletics were held in Sydney, Australia on August 20–25. Results Men Women Medal table Participation According to an unofficial count through an unofficial result list, 1049 athletes from 142 c ...

, Mehari was one of four Ethiopians to seek political asylum in Australia, saying they faced ethnic discrimination back home and the threat of death or imprisonment. He ended up moving to Canberra and joined the

Australian Institute of Sport The Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) is a high performance sports training institution in Australia. The institute's headquarters were opened in 1981 and are situated in the northern suburb of Bruce, Canberra. The AIS is a division of the ...

, under the coaching of

Dick Telford Richard David Telford AM (born 2 April 1945) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for Collingwood and Fitzroy in the Victorian Football League (VFL) during the 1960s, although he mainly played reserves. He went on to become as a ...

. In order to improve his limited English he enrolled in a language course at

Dickson College Dickson College is a public two-year secondary college located in the Canberra suburb of Dickson, Australian Capital Territory. It was established in 1976 on the former Dickson High School campus when it closed. It was set to close after bei ...

. Any money he made in competition he sent back to his family, who remained in Ethiopia.

Australian running career

Mehari twice won the Australian Cross Country Championships, which were held over 12 km, in 1997 and 1998. Pending citizenship, he was likely to have qualified to represent Australia at the

1998 Commonwealth Games The 1998 Commonwealth Games ( Malay: ), officially known as the XVI Commonwealth Games (Malay: ), were a multi-sport event held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The 1998 games were the first held in Asia and the last Commonwealth Games of the 20th cen ...

, but instead made the decision to join a group of Kenyan athletes that were competing in Europe. He was said to have been impatient with his rate of improvement and expressed a wish to train with better athletes in order to fulfil his potential. His personal best for the

5000 metres The 5000 metres or 5000-metre run is a common long-distance running event in track and field, approximately equivalent to or . It is one of the track events in the Olympic Games and the World Championships in Athletics, run over laps of a sta ...

came in a race in 1998, with a time of 13:20.85. He is the course record holder for the City-Bay race in Adelaide, with a time of 33:42, set in 1998. In May 1999 he became an Australian citizen and needed an advance on his AIS scholarship money in order to buy a new passport. Due to

IAAF World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation and International Association of Athletics Federations and formerly abbreviated as the IAAF, is the international sports governing body, governing body for the sport ...

rules he had to stand out of competition for three months, so wasn't able to represent his adopted country until August, which was just in time for the 1999 World Championships. He finished 23rd in the final of the 5000 metres. He was the 5000 metres national champion in 1999.

Olympics

At the

, Mehari was eighth in his heat, timed at 13:24.56, fast enough to qualify as the only Australian in the final. He ran the final in 13:42.03 and finished 12th out of the 15 competitors.

Death

Mehari committed suicide at

Mount Ainslie Mount Ainslie is a hill with an elevation of that is located in the northeastern suburbs of Canberra, in the Australian Capital Territory, Australia. Mount Ainslie lies within part of the Canberra Nature Park. Cultural significance Accordi ...

on 10 May 2007. Donations were sought to enable his body to be flown back home to his family. His memorial service was held in Queanbeyan on 19 May.

References

External links

Mizan Mehari
at Sports-Reference {{DEFAULTSORT:Mehari, Mizan 1980 births 2007 deaths Australian male long-distance runners Olympic athletes for Australia Athletes (track and field) at the 2000 Summer Olympics Sportsmen from the Australian Capital Territory Ethiopian male long-distance runners Ethiopian emigrants to Australia Athletes from Addis Ababa Suicides in the Australian Capital Territory 2007 suicides Australian sportspeople who committed suicide Australian Athletics Championships winners 20th-century Australian sportsmen 21st-century Australian sportsmen